SMU Data and Models

Steel Mill Negotiations: Make Us an Offer…
Written by John Packard
January 22, 2015
According to the respondents to this week’s flat rolled steel market survey, the domestic steel mills are willing to negotiate prices on new orders for all flat rolled steel products.
As you can see by the graphic below, ever since the beginning of the 4th Quarter 2014 the domestic steel mills have been willing to discuss base price levels with their customers on hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume steels. One of the main reasons for the mill position is the short lead times they have on all products (see lead time article in this issue of SMU). The more limited the mill order books the more anxious they are to fill them.
Our survey results are showing the response percentage indicating the mills as willing to negotiate pricing has been increasing since the beginning of December and are almost at 100 percent levels on all products in both the early January and this week’s survey results.

John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in SMU Data and Models

Steelmaking raw material costs mixed through May
According to our latest analysis, prices for four of the seven steelmaking raw materials we track increased from April to May. However, select materials saw a collective 1% decline month over month and are down 4% compared to three months ago.

SMU Survey: Buyers’ Sentiment tumbles as caution increases
SMU’s Buyers’ Sentiment Indices resumed their downward trend this week, erasing the modest recovery seen two weeks ago.

Service centers: Mill orders down further in April
SMU’s Mill Order Index (MOI) declined for a second straight month in April after repeated gains at the start of the year, according to our latest service center inventories data.

SMU Survey: Mill lead times edge lower
Sheet and plate lead times declined across the board this week, according to buyers responding to the latest SMU market survey. While our lead time ranges were unchanged compared to mid-April levels, average production times for each steel product we measure have declined from they were two weeks ago.

SMU Survey: Most buyers say price negotiations back on the table
Domestic mills are largely negotiable on spot prices, according to the majority of steel buyers responding to our latest market survey.